What inspired you to create the peer-to-peer platform? How did you discover the need for it?

Click & Boat was created in 2013 by Jérémy Bismuthn and me. My associate and I, realizing that millions of boats sitting at European ports were costly to their owners, decided to create a platform similar to Airbnb to rent out these boats and make them profitable, while at the same time making them available to individuals seeking an affordable way to set out to sea. Jérémy and I are both very passionate about sailing and entrepreneurship and we wanted to create a collaborative platform in order to connect yacht owners with yacht tenants.

Tourism startups often struggle with fierce competition. As more companies renting boats on a peer-to-peer basis arise: what makes Click & Boat stand out of the crowd? What is the key differentiator?

Our main advantage is that we offer boat rentals in international destinations. We have business developers speaking the language of the market we are active in. This is necessary in order to communicate with each client and accurately understand their needs. This advantage together with our strong team spirit is the key to our success. Additionally, we are available 7 days per week for our community, creating a valuable relationship with our owners and tenants.

Are you using Click & Boat internally? How does that affect the viewpoints of the team?

Of course! As a dynamic team with an affinity for boats and yachts, we regularly spend time together on one of our boats. That’s one way to experience our own product and to stay in touch with the boat owners. Our office, located on a houseboat in Paris gives us the opportunity to do some wakeboard and waterski sessions in partnership with the boat owners.

What is the biggest challenge that the company has faced?

Our biggest challenge has been competitors with the same business model that launched their service at the same time as we did, back in 2013. That’s the reason why we had to work very fast and as a result, we focused on an international team and international expansion to find our place on the market.

In 2016, we acquired our main competitor Sailsharing.com and we currently expand peer-to-peer boat rental services across the globe to offer a worldwide yacht charter service to our customers.

What is the most memorable moment throughout the history of Click & Boat?

We will always remember the first boat rental in April of 2014. This is still the most memorable moment in our history. My partner and I have been very nervous because we didn’t know if everything would go well. After our first rental, the concept proved itself. More than 40,000 rentals have been made since then and we are convinced that our platform has a high potential for international expansion.

If there is one thing you could wish for in improving the European startup ecosystem – what would it be?

I was immediately reminded of the administrative procedure at the beginning of our journey with Click & Boat and I suggest to improve them. Often, time-consuming and with no visible added value, especially here in France, we spent a lot of time to start our project. I think that a simplification of those procedures could be very useful for startups during the setting-up phase. Improving this essential procedure will have a beneficial effect on the European startup culture.

What’s one piece of advice you can give to fellow founders for their startup?

A very important advice I can give: believe in yourself. Growing a startup into a successful business is a huge challenge and may be a lengthy process, so to trust in your team and yourself is highly important. To focus on your daily business, you have to remind yourself of your capability, the team spirit and the goals you want to achieve. For anyone starting new businesses: be aware that you have to be patient and that only “teamwork makes the dream work”.